Anticosti Island

Anticosti Island is an island in the province of Quebec, Canada at the outlet of the Saint Lawrence River into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The island was discovered by the French explorer Jacques Cartier in 1534, and its original name was Isle de l'Assomption; Samuel de Champlain later called it Antiscoti, a corruption of the Native American name Naticousti (in turn a corruption of Natigosteg, meaning "forward land"). In 1680, the island became the world's largest privately-owned island after King Louis XIV of France gave the island to the Jolliet family, and the Jolliets built a fort on the island. However, it would never have a high population due to its treacherous coastline, which wrecked 400 ships. In 1763, Great Britain took over the island at the end of the Seven Years' War, and the fish and wildlife of the island would be eradicated during the 19th century as the result of overexploitation. In 1867, the island officially became a part of Quebec, and it had a population of around 240 by 2017.